Approximately 175 high school students, representing 18 schools from Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky, will visit Lee University’s campus on Friday and Saturday to participate in the annual Honor Choir. The event will culminate with a performance on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Conn Center.
Recommended by their high school choral directors to represent their schools at the event, students will rehearse music under the direction of Dr. Ryan Fisher and Dr. Jonathan Rodgers.
“Lee Honor Choir is such a great opportunity for my high school singers to perform with other singers from the East Tennessee area,” said Cynda Holmes, choral director at East Hamilton High School. “My students have a chance to work with college directors and other clinicians. This experience inspires them to want to continue singing and developing their passion for music. Honor Choir also gives them time to visit the university and get a feel for campus and college life.”
Choir members will be grouped into a men’s and women’s choir to rehearse and perform a variety of selections by composers such as Andrew Ramsey, William Billings, and George F. Handel. The entire group will merge together at the end of the concert to form a mixed choir which will perform two pieces. The Lee University Choral Union and Chorale, along with the Lee Opera Theatre, will perform with the Honor Choir.
Dr. Rodgers, assistant professor of choral music at Lee, teaches a variety of courses including Music in Culture, Piano, and Conducting. His other responsibilities at Lee include conducting the Ladies of Lee and Choral Union, overseeing the choral conducting curriculum, and supervising choral conductors in the graduate program.
In addition to his conducting and research, Dr. Rodgers is an active pianist, church musician, and arranger. His arrangements have been published with Walton Music and Colla Voce and performed by high schools, colleges, and churches across the United States. Recently, he was commissioned to write the closing piece for the Kentucky TTBB All-State Choir.
Dr. Fisher, an alum of Lee’s School of Music, is an assistant professor of music education and associate director of choral activities at the University of Memphis. He also conducts the Chamber Choir and is coordinator of the Music Education Division. Dr. Fisher’s previous teaching experiences include elementary music, middle school chorus, and high school chorus in Texas where he received numerous teaching awards. He currently serves on the National Association for Music Education-Chorus Council.
An active choral clinician and researcher, Dr. Fisher’s research interests involve the male voice change, assessment in music education, and music education technology. His writings have been published in various journals.
Saturday’s concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact LuAnn Holden, associate professor of music at Lee, at lholden@leeuniversity.edu or 614-8259.